Lake Drive Foundation for the Deaf was founded to support the Lake Drive School for Children Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Mountain Lakes, NJ.
Predominantly, the Foundation was supporting the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This program was originally funded through the NJ Department of Education and part of the Mountain Lakes School District. After five years, the early intervention services were moved to the NJ Department of Health (DOH). Under the DOH, the funding was switched to a fee for service and cost sharing model for families. It was evident that under this model and level of reimbursement, the program would not be able to continue to provide the high-quality early intervention services for the children with hearing loss. The DOH model only allowed services in the home and no school-based services.
To help raise funds to support and sustain the program, the foundation was started. The original board of trustees was comprised of volunteers who were civic leaders and passionate parents from the Mountain Lakes area. The initial fundraising revenue came from small dinners in board member homes and local community events.
